Reading Assignments
Math 141 Introductory Statistics, Fall 2019
This page uses MathJax to display mathematical notation, so please let me know if any part isn't clear.
Be sure to check back, because there will certainly be some changes during the semester.
All numbers indicate chapters from Intro Stats, 4th Edition by De Veaux, Velleman, and Bock
For Tuesday September 3 (Due 9/2 @ midnight)
Chapter 1 Stats Starts Here
Chapter 2 Displaying and Describing Categorical Data
Chapter 3 Displaying and Summarizing Quantitative Data
To Read: Skim Chapter 1; Focus on Section 2.2; Skim Chapter 3; You can skip Section 3.7. We'll talk about the standard deviation in more detail next week. FYI, this is the longest reading assignment for the semester, so don't be overwhelmed by the length.
Reading Questions
- Consider the cells for Alive and First in the contingency Tables 2.6 and 2.7. Explain the difference between the value 9.2% in Table 2.6 and the value 28.6% in Table 2.7.
- Consider the histogram given in Exercise 37 of Chapter 3. Describe the distribution in a few sentences (shape, center, spread, unusual features)
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For Wednesday September 4 (Due 9/3 @ midnight)
Chapter 4 Understanding and Comparing Distributions
To Read: Emphasize sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and skim the remainder of the chapter.
Reading Questions
- What is the author's motivation for using boxplots, rather than histograms, in Figure 4.3 to compare the monthly data shown in the histogram in Figure 4.1?
- What two approaches should you definitely avoid when your data has outliers?
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For Monday September 9 (Due 9/8 @ midnight)
Chapter 5 The Standard Deviation as a Ruler and the Normal Model
To Read: Emphasize Sections 5.1-5.4 and skim Section 5.5.
Reading Questions
- Which is further from the mean, a data value with a z-score of 1.3 or a data value with a z-score of -1.5? Why?
- What is the difference between a parameter and a statistic?
- In a normal distribution, what percentage of the distribution lies within 1 standard deviation of the mean?
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For Wednesday September 11 (Due 9/10 @ midnight)
Chapter 15 Sampling Distribution Models
To Read: All, but you can skip Section 15.3. Be sure to emphasize Section 15.4.
Reading Questions
- What does each data point in a sampling distribution represent?
- What are the assumptions and conditions necessary for the Normal model to work well as a model of the sampling distribution of a sample proportion? (You do not need to explain these assumptions and conditions. We'll talk about them in detail in class.)
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For Monday September 16 (Due 9/15 @ midnight)
Chapter 16 Confidence Intervals for Proportions
To Read: Re-read Sections 15.4 and 15.5. Read all of Chapter 16, and emphasize Section 16.2.
Reading Questions
- In two or three sentences, explain the idea of a confidence interval for a parameter in your own words.
- Why is it important in creating a confidence interval for a proportion \(p\) to know that that the sampling distribution for \(\hat{p}\) is normal?
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For Wednesday September 18 (Due 9/17 @ midnight)
Chapter 16 Confidence Intervals for Proportions
To Read: Re-read the chapter, but no Reading Questions for today.
For Monday September 23
Q & A for Exam 1. No Reading Assignment for today.
For Wednesday September 25
Exam 1. No Reading Assignment for today.
For Monday September 30 (Due 9/29 @ midnight)
Chapter 17 Testing Hypotheses About Proportions
To Read: All, and pay special attention to the step-by-step example beginning on page 458.
Reading Questions
- What is the null hypothesis \(H_0\) of a hypothesis test?
- What is the alternative hypothesis \(H_A\) of a hypothesis test?
- What does the \(P\)-value of a hypothesis test tell you about \(H_0\)?
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For Wednesday October 2 (Due 10/1 @ midnight)
Chapter 18 Inferences About Means
To Read: All. This is very similar to the material in Chapters 16 & 17 but applied to population means rather than population proportions.
Reading Questions
- Why do we need to use the Student's \(t\)-model for inferences about means rather than the techniques from Chapter 17?
- What are the two assumptions necessary to use the Student's \(t\)-model?
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For Monday October 7 (Due 10/6 @ midnight)
Chapter 19 More About Tests and Intervals
To Read: From the beginning of the chapter to the section on Power on page 518
Reading Questions
- Why is \(\alpha=0.05\) often used as the level of significance in hypothesis testing?
- What is the difference between a Type I and Type II error? Explain.
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For Wednesday October 9 (Due 10/8 @ midnight)
Chapter 20 Comparing Groups
To Read: Through Section 20.5
Reading Questions
- Why do we pool the samples in a two-proportion z-test?
- Why don't we pool the samples in a two-proportion z-interval?
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For Monday October 14
Fall Break. No class meeting or reading assignment due.
For Wednesday October 17
Chapter 20 Comparing Groups
To Read: Finish reading the chapter, but no Reading Questions for today.
For Monday October 21 (Due 10/20 @ midnight)
Chapter 21 Paired Samples and Blocks
To Read: Through Section 21.3
Reading Questions
- Explain the difference between a paired t-test and a two sample t-test.
- Give an example to explain when you would use a paired t-test rather than a two sample t-test.
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For Wednesday October 23 (Due 10/22 @ midnight)
Chapter 24 Analysis of Variance
To Read: All, but you can de-emphasize Section 24.2 and skip the section Bonferroni Multiple Comparisons. Notice that this Chapter is posted to onCourse. It was also included on the CD that came with the text.
Reading Questions
- What is the difference between ANOVA and the two-sample t-tests from Chapter 20?
- Why is a test comparing population means called analysis of variance?
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For Monday October 28
Chapter 24 Analysis of Variance
To Read: Re-read the chapter, but no Reading Questions for today.
For Wednesday October 30 (Due 10/29 @ midnight)
Chapter 6 Scatterplots, Association, and Correlation
Chapter 7 Linear Regression
To Read: All, but you can skip Section 6.4 Straightening Scatterplots
Reading Questions
- What does the correlation coefficient \(r\) measure?
- What is the purpose of regression?
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For Monday November 4
Q & A for Exam 2. No Reading Assignment for today.
For Wednesday November 6
Exam 2. No Reading Assignment for today.
For Monday November 11
Chapter 8 Regression Wisdom
To Read: All, but no Reading Questions for today.
For Wednesday November 13 (Due 11/12 @ midnight)
Chapter 23 Inferences for Regression
To Read: All. Pay extra attention to the examples beginning on pages 650 and 657.
Reading Questions
- What is the difference between the fitted line \(\hat{y}=b_0+b_1x\) and the idealized regression line \(\mu_y = \beta_0+\beta_1 x\)?
- In regression inference, why is the null hypothesis always that slope \(\beta_1=0\)?
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For Monday November 18
Chapter 23 Inferences for Regression
To Read: Re-read the chapter, but no Reading Questions for today.
For Wednesday November 20 (Due 11/19 @ midnight)
Chapter 25 Multiple Regression
To Read: Sections 25.1, 25.2 and 25.3. Notice that this Chapter is posted to onCourse. It was also included on the CD that came with the text.
Reading Questions
- How does multiple regression differ from the linear regression models we discussed in Chapters 7 & 8?
- What is the advantage of multiple regression over the models from Chapters 7 & 8?
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For Monday November 25 (Due 11/24 @ midnight)
Chapter 22 Comparing Counts
To Read: All
Reading Question
- What does the chi-square statistic measure? Explain the idea in your own words in a couple of sentences.
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For Wednesday November 27
Thanksgiving Break. No class meetings or Reading Assignments for today.
For December 2
Chapter 22 Comparing Counts
Re-read the chapter, but no Reading Questions for today.
For December 4
The Big Picture of Intro Stats today. No Reading Assignment due.
